This archive report was first published on 21 September 2019.
On September 21, 2019, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) announced the arrest of three Kenyans in a sting operation related to a $384 million internet fraud scandal.
The suspects, Robert Mutua Muli, Amil Hassan Raage, and Jeffrey Sila Ndungi, were arrested alongside 281 other suspects after years of investigations.
According to the FBI, Muli was the mastermind behind the scam, stealing $2,128,133.83 from the Fairfax County government by tricking them into sending payments for computers purchased from Dell to a fraudulent account.
He also conned the state of Vermont out of $13,684.63 and the city of Detroit $769,226.
Meanwhile, Raage was tracked down by FBI operatives in Nairobi and arrested on May 9 with $949,393.14 in his bank accounts.
Ndungi, a 33-year-old, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April 2018 for his role in the scam, which dated back to 2010 when he allegedly hacked into a cable company in Kenya and Nigeria.
He managed to steal only $76,592.86 before FBI agents lured him into a trap and arrested him at the Los Angeles International Airport.
From the proceeds of the scam, Ndungi reportedly bought two Cessna planes with the tail numbers 5Y-CCN and 5Y-CCO shortly after graduating.
The successful operation has seen millions recovered from the suspects, with all three having been found guilty after making plea bargain deals with the courts.
